Prayer and Restoration: Part 2 - James 5:14-15

Prayer and Restoration: Part 2 - James 5:14-15
Written by LaRosa Johnson
Friday, November 21, 2008

In addressing the close of his epistle to the suffering and persecuted, James has primarily focused on the character and conduct that they are to have. In verse 13 he shifted the focus to prayer and praise, depicting what we need to be doing at the appropriate time. In today's passage, James goes on to give instruction for those who are facing these circumstances. He realized that they wouldn't always be at their best, and it's here that he instructs them on how to get some additional comfort and restoration. So, let us open our Bibles to today's passage and begin our study.

Quote :

James 5:14-15 (NASB) - 14Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

Now, this passage is going to take a little bit of work and unpacking. Over the years, partly due to insufficient English translations from the Greek, these two verses have led to some interesting doctrines and practices inside the Church. In this study, it's not our goal to discuss how these other teachings are wrong; instead, we are here to get to the root of what James is saying and to accurately understand the message that he wishes to get across. To make this happen, we're going to look a bit at the Greek and get some understanding of the culture & times, which will go a long way in making things clear. We'll take a look at this passage in sections, dealing with them individually, before bringing it all back together as a whole to fix our understanding.

Let's begin with the opening question, "Is anyone among you sick?" This question seems innocent enough, but it's a bit misleading, at least in most English translations. The problem comes with the word "sick," which comes from the Greek word astheneo (Strong's #G770). Often times when we think of being sick, we generally assume that we're talking about a physical illness, which isn't the case with this particular word. This Greek word literally means "to be weak," with a secondary meaning referring to illness. The use of this word in the Bible is an interesting study. When you look at how this word is used in the gospels (Mark 6:56; Luke 4:40; John 4:46; 6:2) it was used of those who were physically ill or diseased, which leads many to believe that this is what James is referring to. Acts and the Epistles, on the other hand, have instances that refer to someone with a weak faith or conscience (Acts 20:35; Rom. 6:19; 14:1; 1 Cor. 8:11-12). In looking at these passages, you have to ask whether James is referring to the weak or the sick. Keeping the verse in context helps us to see that it should be better translated as "Is anyone among you weak?" because James is speaking to those who have been weakened both physically and spiritually as a result of persecution. This becomes all the more clear if we skip ahead to verse 15, where James uses a word for sick (kamno, Strong's #G2577) that literally means "to be weary." Given its only other use in Hebrews 12:3, the definition of being weary is quite obvious. With this understanding, we realize that James is not talking about those who are physically ill, but of those who are weak and weary as a result of their suffering.

What is this weak person to do? James says that they "must call for the elders of the church." In other words, they are instructed to call for the church/spiritual leaders who will be able to comfort and restore them. It's noteworthy that James doesn't say to call a single elder, but he says that they must call for the elders plural. This makes sense given the instructions elders were given in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 to encourage the fainthearted and help the weak. How do the elders help? The remainder of the verse states that the elders are to pray over the weaker brother or sister and to also anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. The instruction to pray is simple enough and doesn't require much explanation. For the most part, believers are familiar with the power and persistence of prayer, but a few passages to note that are related to this matter would include 1 Kings 17:21; Acts 9:40; 28:8.

The portion of the instruction to the elders that we want to key in on is the anointing with oil. Again, most English translations don't do this word much justice in helping us to understand James' intent. There is a word in the New Testament that means anoint, which is chriō (Strong's #G5548), but it's a ceremonial anointing. This is not the word that James uses; instead, he uses the word aleipho (Strong's #G218), which means "to rub with oil." This is where having an understanding of ancient culture comes into play, so that we can see how oil was used in the ancient world, especially in conjunction with this word. Aside from its ceremonial uses, both oil and the act of anointing had very common and practical applications that any person of Bible times would have been familiar with, which we will now take a look at. First, in Jewish culture it was linked with bodily comfort and expressing a mood of joy (Matt. 6:17). A secondary usage comes as a sign of showing honor or respect (Luke 7:38, 46). A final usage is found in both Hellenism (Greek culture) and Judaism, which is to use oil for medicinal purposes to alleviate and cure various illnesses (Mark 6:13). Going back to our Greek word aleipho for a moment, this is a word of common application that generally falls into one of those three uses. Taking it back to our passage, we can say that James was desiring for the elders to rub oil on the weak, not as a means of imparting some spiritual healing, but for medical purposes or as a sign of giving comfort. So, putting the pieces back together, it's probably safe that James is telling the elders to address the spiritual needs of the weak (through prayer), as well as meeting their physical needs by giving them medicine (to heal any wounds they may obtained as a result of their suffering).

Moving on now to verse 15, if the elders do as James has instructed and pray in faith without doubting (James 1:6) the weary believer will be restored. To understand this verse, we must understand what it means to be restored or made well. This word literally means "to save," but in this context it is referring to saving the weary believer from their spiritual defeat or weakness. In many ways, this can be understood as the believer being restored from his discouragement and lowliness that came as a result of persecution. This significantly indicates that this is a spiritual healing and restoration that takes place, especially when you take into account the remainder of the verse which speaks of forgiveness of sins, which is clearly a spiritual matter. The key here is to realize that the Lord (through the working of the Holy Spirit) will raise up this believer back to the point of spiritual strength so that they can continue to stand firm in the conflict that they're facing.

Finally, let's look at the end of the passage which says, "if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him." What does this mean? Well, in order to understand this, we have to go back to some Jewish understanding where it is often believed that ailment comes as a result of sin (Matt. 9:2-6; John 5:14; 9:2, 3). James is not saying that this is the case, but he does recognize that this is a spiritual matter and the reality that sin hinders fellowship with the Holy Spirit, which could consequently result in spiritual defeat. It is because of this that James says that if you have sinned, that through confession and prayer you will be forgiven (1 John 1:9). It's important to note that James isn't assuming that you have sinned; he is using a third class condition of if, which basically means that it may or may not be true, and then follows with a response if the answer is true. So, if you haven't sinned, this part of the verse doesn't apply, but if you have, then confess and be forgiven.

There's a lot of meat in these two verses, but it really boils down to a very simple principle: if you're weary you need to seek the counsel of spiritual elders so that you can be restored and encouraged in your faith. This is entirely a spiritual matter and does not imply physical healing at all, as some would take this verse to mean. The bottom line is believers being there for one another to bear each other's burdens so that we don't have to carry them ourselves (Gal. 6:2). James follows these two verses with a "therefore" application in verse 16, which we will take a look at when we return next time. Until then, walk in the Light and fulfill the Law of Christ!

devotion courtesy of Trailblazin Ministries
http://www.trailblazinministries.com/devotions/james085.php